Chalk It Up to Good Behavior! {freebie}

Hey yall! Happy Monday!

 

Who has two thumbs and just finished her gifted endorsement???

 

This girl!

 

I took 4 classes this summer to get the endorsement and it was a lot of work! I spent hours and hours {and hours and hours!} getting my final portfolio ready, and I finally turned it in on Friday. Goodbye schoolwork, hello summer! Well, what's left of it anyway...

 

This baby has over 300 pages of hard work in it!

 

 

And I'm not ashamed to admit that I was giddy my portfolio was the cutest out of all the ones I saw :)

 

Now that I'm done with that, I can focus a little more on my classroom! I'm moving to 5th grade next year, and I was having a hard time deciding what theme to choose. I love, love, love my owls, but I just thought they may be a little too juvenile for 5th graders.

 

But I spent a lot of time and money collecting things that had my owl theme colors, so I wanted to still incorporate those somehow. I decided to combine those beautiful colors with my newest obsession....chalkboard!!!

 

Click on the picture to grab your copy!

I also made some matching schedule cards to go along with this new theme!

 

Click on the picture to get your copy!

 

Now, even though I'm not going to be using a clip chart {I don't think....what's your thoughts? Anyone use a clip chart with 5th graders???}, I decided to go ahead and make one for yall!

 

 

Click HERE to get your freebie!

 

I also wanted to let yall know that I updated my best selling classroom pack! If you have purchased the pack {and haven't printed it all out yet!}, go download the new and improved version.

 

 

I'm linking this post up with my two favorite Monday linkys :)

 



Hey yall!

Its Thursday, which means its time for Throwback Thursday!



I'm really loving this linky, because I get to see posts from others that I missed the first go around. Its like getting a redo!

Since its getting close to the beginning of a new school year {for some of us anyways!}, I thought I would share today my classroom photos from last year.

I'm going to miss that classroom! Since I'm moving to 5th grade this year, I'm moving to a classroom down the hall. I'm also thinking I need to retire my old theme, since its probably a little too young for those big 5th graders. I haven't quite decided what my new theme will be, but I've got something in the works that I think I'm going to love....hopefully, I'll be ready to share it with you soon!

*****Originally posted October 9, 2012*****

Hey yall! Happy Tuesday!

 

Its only happy for me because my grad school class got canceled tonight. Well, actually not canceled, just rescheduled. It was supposed to be the last night of class, so I guess all its really doing is putting it off for a couple of weeks....but whatever, that gives me LOTS more time to finish my not-even-close-to-being-done almost done assignments :)

 

So I know that I have been promising you guys some photos of the new classroom, and I finally took some today!

 

Please keep in mind though....this room is NOT completely finished. I know in my head that I still have lots to do, but I guess it looks somewhat finished..?

 

Anyways, go easy on me :) because it was the end of the day...

 

...and I forgot to tell the kids to put down their chairs...

 

...and I didn't really feel like putting down 19 chairs...

 

...then putting them back up again after the pictures...

 

...sooooooooooo...

 

...there are chairs stacked on desks in these pictures :)

 

Onto the pictures!



Writing center, listening center, and meeting area. Still need a rug to go here! The writing poster is from the teacher wife and the peacemaker posters are from First Grade Parade.



My number posters above...kinda hard to see :(



Story elements and strategies posters from a year of many firsts. This is the door to our bathroom.



Student computers! I am supposed to be getting one more. Punctuation posters from What the Teacher Wants.



Love pinterest!



Our bucket filler board! This is actually the side of my filing cabinet, so I used magnets to hold up the buckets.



My desk area. Please ignore those boxes of junk :)



Love my desk area! I have lots of storage and room to work.



My owl print from Ikea! $10 well spent :)



My mom got me these cuties!

Birthday board {minus the students' pictures-took those today} and calendar area-this is still missing A LOT!



This table holds our supply caddies, special books we've read, and the student daily folders go in that pink crate.



This is where my students get pencils and turn in their papers. Notice, I haven't grabbed their work from the past few days! Bad teacher...



My very pitiful library. Not pitiful because of the amount of books, but because of organization. One day I will go through and organize them all...but not now...I also need a rug for this area!



Our small group table and student cubbies! I really, really, really hate that bright yellow :(

Sink area with class jobs on the cabinets above.



Close-up of our class jobs {some of them, anyway}



Back wall with student cubbies and standards-based bulletin boards. We have to have one for each subject....obviously, I'm still working on those :) Also my pretty alphabet is up top!



Birthday balloons! We aren't allowed to hang anything from the ceiling, so I was pretty bummed about my lanterns :(



But I found a couple of places to put them! Also have some inspirational posters here from all over.



Our WBT posters from a year of many firsts and our Hoot Loot board. I will explain Hoot Look another time :)



So excited to have a Promethean board! I'm still learning how to use it. Notice that whole grid of nonsense? Another requirement...don't ask me how I feel about it. But I was happy to find some polka dotted duck tape to use!



Our class schedule, clip chart, and transportation board.

View from my desk area looking left.



View from our meeting area looking right.



View from the front door looking right.



View from the front door looking straight.



View from the sink area looking left.

 

Whew! Did you hang in there????

 

I used pretty much everything from my Owls on Dots collection, and then tweaked some a bit to better fit my needs. I will also be going back to revise some of this stuff, so keep a lookout!

 

So what do yall think??? I was really happy with how most things turned out, and my littles especially love the bright colors :)

 

Well, the hubs is burning cooking dinner, so off to do some damage control eat!

Really? A pencil sharpener?

Hey yall!

 

So how many of you have seen this little guy floating around on blogland?

 

 

I have had my eye on this baby for quite some time. I have entered every single giveaway I could find, but to no avail.

 

So imagine my excitement when I got the opportunity to review this guy!

I'm pretty sure I actually jumped for joy, along with a lot of giddy noises and hand clapping.

 

See my title up there? Those were my hubby's words when he saw how excited I was to review the best little pencil sharpener around. 

 

He just didn't get it...

 

I chose to review the Cool Blue sharpener, but it is also available in Groovy Green, Firehouse Red, and Midnight Black. The Cool Blue matches my classroom colors, so it was perfect for me.

 

After I opened the box, it only took me a few minutes to figure out how to set it up and get to sharpening pencils. But, if there were any questions as to how to, there is a quick little video on the Classroom Friendly Supplies website.

 

I clamped that puppy on to my desk, found some pencils, and got to work! Let me tell you....these things are razor sharp!

 

I may or may not have used one to poke my hubs...just to demonstrate why I was so excited :)

 

So here are some reasons why I love this thing:

 

1. Umm...did you see that picture? None of the pencil sharpeners I have ever used gave me such perfect points. Goodbye half-eaten pencils!

 

2. Its quiet! Forget the annoying sound of an electric pencil sharpener, this baby just gives a quiet little hum.

 

3. The clamp on the bottom lets you hook it up to practically any surface, and the pencil clamp makes it virtually hands free! Well, not completely...but all you need is one little hand to turn that handle.

 

4. I can actually trust my kiddos to sharpen pencils now! I was always so scared to let my kiddos use the electric sharpener, so I would spend a good five minutes at the end of every day {and multiple times throughout the day!} sharpening pencils. Never again :)

 

Of course, I will have to demonstrate to my kiddos how to work it, but I can trust that it won't eat their whole pencil.

 

To purchase your own little slice of teacher heaven, head on over to see Troy at Classroom Friendly Supplies!

 

Carolina Bloggers Meet Up!

Hey yall!

 

Sorry I've been a little MIA this week. I'm knee deep in getting my gifted endorsement and am thisclose to the finish line. Couple more days and then I'm free for the rest of summer!!!

 

I just wanted to share with you an event that I'm super stoked about! Amanda from Teaching Maddeness has been cooking up another fun meet up for all the Carolina girls {Georgia girls, too!}.

 

Last year, I got the chance to meet some really great ladies when we met in Columbia. This year, I'm super excited to get to reunite with some of them {and meet some new ones} in Greenville!

 



This one includes dinner, a night on the town, an overnight stay, and then lunch the next day!

Whoo-hoo!

 

If you are around the area, or want to make the trip like I am, click on the picture above to get some info!

Throwback Thursday: Writing Spaceman {freebie}

Hey yall! Happy 4th!

Don't forget that my whole TPT shop is on sale today. If you've had your eye on any of my packs, now is the time to snag them!


button by the tattooed teacher

This week's throwback is actually a post that I wrote for the Teacher Feature over at Teaching Blog Addict...and it includes a freebie!

*****Originally posted on September 16, 2012*****

 

I wanted to share a little resource that I used with my kiddos to help them with writing. In the primary grades, when students are just learning to write, they seemtowriteeverylittlewordlikethis.

 

Now, I know we can all read that...I mean, we are teachers! But those sweet little guys still need to do it right, yes?

 

I know that there are tons of different ways to help students remember the spacing with their writing. In the past we have used our fingers, popsicle sticks, eraser tops...you name it!

 

But last year I made these little guys for my kiddos and they loved them!

 

 

Every time my littles were working on their writing, they pulled out their spacemen {and spacewomen!} and got to it! They just LOVED getting to use these little guys! We even learned a little jingle to help us remember :)

 

 

 

Your littles can have fun with these spacemen, too! Just click on the picture to download.

 

Quick tip for these guys-don't try to cut around every little nook and cranny...that will take forever! I usually cut around the body in the circle. But you DO need to cut the top portion out around the lines! This will make a .5 inch space for primary students using handwriting paper.

 

Also, because these are pretty small, they will definitely need to be laminated. I would even suggest using a small personal laminator, because I have found those to be more sturdy than the big laminator machines found in many schools.

 

After you finish downloading, I would love for you all to come check me out at my new Facebook page!

 

Like me on Facebook!

 

Later, yall!



Winner and a Sale!

Hey yall!

 

I just wanted to announce the winner of my quick little giveaway.

 

 

Mercedes, send me your email!

 

I also wanted to let you guys know that I'm having a sale in my TPT shop. Everything in my shop will be 20% off through tomorrow. Click on the picture below to shop!

 

btton by the tattooed teacher

Happy shopping, friends!